The government has to answer parliamentary questions from MPs about the work that they are doing. They were asked last summer about Evusheld, a drug designed to help prevent Covid-19.
The government said the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) were testing Evusheld against current variants. However, they have now said this misrepresented the work that they were doing and actually no tests were carried out by UKHSA after the end of May 2022.
In August 2022, the government formally asked NICE to review the effectiveness of Evusheld and issue guidance, which will be published in early May 2023. It is very disappointing that government gave incorrect information and unacceptable that people were misled.
This does not necessarily mean that Evusheld would have been made available in 2022. A review of available studies has led to a draft decision by NICE that there is not enough evidence that Evusheld works against current variants of Covid-19.
However, Kidney Care UK are concerned as it is vital government give a clear account of their work.
In this case, people with kidney disease were led to believe that the government agency was actively testing Evusheld to check whether it was effective against new variants.
We also question why the testing ceased after May 2022 and whether there was any government led analysis of Evusheld during this time, before the drug was referred to NICE in August 2022.
We have continually campaigned for people who remain vulnerable to Covid-19 to remain a priority for government and this episode calls into question what, if any, priority was given to analysis of Evusheld during this time.
